Her Spirit was founded in 2018 and run GO TRI events for women looking to get active and take on something achievable yet challenging for them.
Co-founder of Her Spirit and event organiser, Holly Woodford, said of the events, “We already offered online bike sessions and an online run programme and, since lockdown has eased, we have been able to run beginner and intermediate open water sessions.”
The organisation was set up by Woodford and her co-founder, Mel Berry, to provide specific support and events for women to take part in as a way of helping them to get fit and be active.
“We felt that GO TRI would provide a goal that was achievable but also challenging for those in our community,” Woodford said. “We wanted to cater for whatever stage of the journey our participants are at, so set up three distances for them to choose from.”
Their first event took place at the end of August with three distances on offer, starting with a 100m open water swim and 1km run, and the longest offering being 400m swim and 3km run.
“The event in August went really well and we had 25 women take part,” added Woodford. “We had planned to host GO TRI events in June and July but unfortunately these had to be cancelled.
“With the additional British Triathlon risk assessments in place, we felt confident that we would be able to provide a Covid-19 Secure environment for our volunteers and participants. It also provided an opportunity to meet some of our community in person!”
Commenting on GO TRI events resuming, Triathlon England Regional Manager for the East Midlands, Sarah Williams, said:
“At the height of the pandemic women’s physical activity dropped, with 32% of women unable to prioritise doing exercise during lockdown as they had too much to do for others. To provide women only sessions provides women the opportunity to do something for themselves.”
“Events look slightly different when compared to pre-Covid, with events required to meet certain Covid-19 requirements in their safety documentation before being issued with a permit from British Triathlon.”
Reflecting on Her Spirit organising local GO TRI events, Williams added, “Her Spirit are motivated to improve the health of the whole nation by increasing the activity levels of every women in the UK.
“They are creating an online community and bringing those outside of the swim, bike, run world into it through their online sessions, programmes, challenges and experiences.”
By taking part in a permitted event you can be sure of a safe, fair and, most importantly, an enjoyable race experience. With aquathlons, duathlons, triathlons and aquabikes, GO TRI races and children’s races too, whatever your sporting background, there’s an opportunity waiting for you on the British Triathlon event search.
